Jake Ewald started Slaughter Beach, Dog as an outlet for songs that didn’t quite fit with his main band Modern Baseball; with that project on hiatus, it’s become his full-time concern for the moment. His debut full-length, Welcome, came out just last year, and he prefaced his upcoming sophomore album with the Motorcycle.jpg EP just last month. Today, Ewald is officially announcing that new album, which is called Birdie, and an accompanying tour that kicks off shortly after it’s released in the fall.

“Gold And Green,” the first single from it, marks a slight departure for the project. Where the songs on Welcome could have passed as MoBo tracks if viewed in the right light, most of these newer ones are more influenced by folk and country. That comes through not only in the sharp world-building that’s on display, but in the soft strums and twang and chorus that borrows lines from a folk standard popularized by the likes of John Denver and Pete Seeger. Ewald’s mighty melodic sensibilities stay intact, though — and are maybe even strengthened by the lack of noise surrounding them — and he’s at his best when writing evocative observations of life in miniature. My favorite here: “Making records in my bedroom/ Tin foil in the heat vents/ Get high in the basement/ Sing into my mouth.” Listen below.